Pros
- Work/life balance - I rarely work more than 40 hours per week but still get paid the same as some of my collegues who work at Big 4 firms -Little to no travel - unless you are on the IT side, you don't really do much travelling. This can be a con for some though - Time off - We get a lot of PTO and federal holidays and can pretty much take time off whenever we want....of course, if there is an important deadline, our bosses would probably recommend against it -Engagements - we have several big name government clients and are given a lot of responsibility while on the job from an early start -Partners and managers - our upper management is very approachable and they really take the time to get to know who you are and what you want out of your career. If you show them you produce quality work and are efficient in doing so, you can go far in this company and the partners will do all they can to help you get there. - Advancement - There are no "advancement levels" here...meaning, you could be promoted to senior after 9 months of working or after 3 years. It all depends on the work you produce. With that said, the partners here like things fast - so you can't expect to impress them if you take too much time to do your tasks. It all comes down to the type of worker you are - my advice is to produce high quality work in a short amount of time. - Location - Most of our clients are in DC but our home office is in Alexandria. So depending on where you live, the location might be prime! -You learn a lot because you get a lot of manager and partner involvement. The partners here are awesome and love it if you are outgoing and are able to talk to them without fear. It is intimidating sometimes to have to talk to a partner, but those who succeed here are the ones who put forth the effort to establish those relationships. - Willingness to address your needs - Cotton wants their people to stay, and if you are unhappy with your current engagement, they will work with you to move you somewhere you are better suited. - Job security - if you are a good worker and pick up on things fast, then job security is fairly high here. If there isn't a job or an engagement for you to work on, you will not get let go, but you may sit in the office doing nothing for a few months....perfect time to study for your CPA! -Fabulous staff meetings (at the Hilton!!) and parties (at the Ritz!!)
Cons
- Company involvement - there are one or two committees to get involved in and there is a softball team, but not much besides that. You could be working here for 10 years and still only know the people on your engagement. -Cliquey - a lot of the younger staff are very cliquey. If they already have their "group" don't even think about trying to hang or make friends. This isn't the place. - Favorites - plain and simple, if the partners and managers like you, you're going to do well. If they don't or if you have an attitude, that'll rub them the wrong way, and you probably won't do well in this company. Its common sense, though. Sometimes you just have to put on a happy face. Fake it till you make it is my motto. And its worked for me! -Fairness of engagements - like I said, I usually only work 40 hours. However, there are some more intense engagements where it gets super busy at year or quarter end and the staff has to work 60 hour work weeks. Just hope you don't get on one of those!